I’ve seen a few great book recommendations on Twitter and Facebook lately. I have tweeted out a few replies, but thought I’d take the time to write up a quick blog post on a few of my favorites business books. Of course, there are countless books being written all the time. In fact I’m working on one too (aren’t we all?). The books listed below have helped shape the way I think about business and they still do. If these are your favorites too I commend you. If not, feel free to share your favorites in the comments or here.
A Few of my Favorite Reads
 | Jungle Rules by John Imlay This was before my time in the software industry, but it sure seems like it was a fun time for all. Some of the antics and tactics employed are classic. This is book can be hard to find. It’s sometimes listed as out of print. If you can’t find a copy send me a note – I’ll share mine and we can pass it around. |
| Sacred Cows make the Best Burgers by Robert Kriegel My favorite line from this book is “Don’t Pave the Cow Paths” which as an engineer and as someone involved in the ECM and BPM industries for 20+ years it resonates very nicely. |  |
 | The Circle of Innovation by Tom Peters Tom has a lot of books and content out there and I had a hard time picking just one. To me the best thing from Tom is seeing him present live. I have been fortunate enough to see him twice. He brings it! No matter what you might think about his content he delivers it with a passion and forces you to think. |
| Crossing the Chasm I have also been fortunate enough to see Geoffrey present live. I was working for FileNet (now owned by IBM) and this was just about the time “Crossing the Chasm” was coming out. He was a relative unknown. He gave a great presentation and continues to deliver with his follow-on books – Inside the Tornado, The Gorilla Game, Dealing with Darwin, et al. |  |
 | The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker Again, I was fortunate enough to get to see Peter Drucker do a live Q&A. He was in his 80’s yet still on top of his game. His insights from 30+ years ago are still being applied today and have arguably helped form the foundation for many successful companies and industries. |
What about the New Stuff?
You may notice that all of these are “older” books. This is not to imply that some of the newer books that have come out in the last few years are bad. It’s just that these books have held their place in my head and on my bookshelf as “reference” books for a few years.
What are your Favorite Business Books and Why?
Care to share? I created a list here. Feel free to add your favorites.
Help Get kids involved with reading. Whether it’s a comic book, a newspaper, or even a business book getting kids involved early pays huge dividends.
Disclosure: Affiliate links. Yes, I am linking to these books under my Amazon Affiliate ID. If you have a big issue with this you can opt-out. I’m no Chris Brogan, but Chris wrote a short and sweet blog post about why this should not be a despised act – as he says it’s beer money. For me – it might be one (small) cup of coffee. If you like the book recommendations … great. Buy ‘em via my affiliate link. I thank you and in return I’ll buy the coffee for YOU when we meet in person.
I have spent the better part of the last 16 years working in various aspects of the ECM space. I spent time at Kofax, Microsoft, FileNet, K2, and most recently Captaris (which was acquired by Open Text in Nov 2008). Prior to that I was a Unix VAR running my own company. Follow me on Twitter, check my blog, send email or find me on Facebook or LinkedIn.
** I am available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. My areas of emphasis are business development and alliance management where Social Media and Enterprise Content Management intersect.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
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